Chronology providing method, chronology providing apparatus, and recording medium containing chronology providing program

1. A method for providing chronologic information, the method comprising acts, performed by at least one computer processor, of: (i) obtaining basic information associating a plurality of pieces of information relating to a first user with information about time, the association defining chronologic information on which the plurality of pieces of information are positioned; (ii) analyzing the chronologic information to determine an initial display form of the chronologic information to a user other than the first user, the analyzing comprising identifying one or more first time periods during which a relatively greater number of the plurality of pieces of information relating to the first user was created and one or more second time periods during which a relatively lesser number of the plurality of pieces of information relating to the first user was created; (iii) generating information that indicates the initial display form of the chronologic information, and that comprises an identification of a subset of the plurality of pieces of information to be initially displayed to the user other than the first user, the subset comprising pieces of information created during the one or more first time periods; and (iv) providing at least a portion of the chronologic information to a display unit for display, the providing comprising employing the information generated in the act (iii) indicating the initial display form of the chronologic information to identify the at least a portion that is provided.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the obtaining step comprises obtaining information for displaying a digest of the chronologic information to the user other than the first user, and the information for displaying the digest comprises a series of chronology operation information indicating a part of the chronologic information to be displayed, a display order, and how the part is displayed.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: storing history information of an operation performed on the provided chronologic information if the operation is accepted; and repeatedly displaying the chronologic information based on the history information.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein, if the history information exists, performing display of the chronologic information according to the history information with higher priority than display of the chronologic information according to other information.

5. A chronology providing apparatus to provide chronologic information, the chronology providing apparatus comprising: at least one computer processor programmed to: obtain basic information associating a plurality of pieces of information relating to a first user with information about time, the association defining chronologic information on which the plurality of pieces of related information are positioned; analyze the chronologic information to determine an initial display form of the chronologic information to a user other than the first user, the analyzing comprising identifying one or more first time periods during which a relatively greater number of the plurality of pieces of information relating to the first user was created and one or more second time periods during which a relatively lesser number of the plurality of pieces of information relating to the first user was created; generate information that indicates the initial display form of the chronologic information, and that comprises an identification of a subset of the plurality of pieces of information to be initially displayed to the user other than the first user, the subset comprising pieces of information created during the one or more first time periods; and provide at least a portion of the chronologic information to a device for display to the user other than the first user, the providing comprising employing the generated information that indicates the initial display form to identify the at least a portion that is provided.

6. The chronology providing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to obtain information for displaying a digest of the chronologic information to the user other than the first user, and the information for displaying the digest comprises a series of chronology operation information indicating a part in the chronologic information to be displayed, a display order, and how the part is displayed.

7. The chronology providing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to accept an operation to the chronologic information; store history information of the operation to the chronologic information; and to control a display of the chronologic information based on the stored history information.

8. The chronology providing apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to, if the history information exists, assign chronologic information having associated history information a higher priority than chronologic information having no associated history information.

9. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing a chronology providing program which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to perform a method comprising: obtaining basic information associating a plurality of pieces of information relating to a first user with information about time, the association defining chronologic information on which the plurality of pieces of related information are positioned; analyzing the chronologic information to determine an initial display form of the chronologic information to a user other than the first user, the analyzing comprising identifying one or more first time periods during which a relatively greater number of the plurality of pieces of information relating to the first user was created and one or more second time periods during which a relatively lesser number of the plurality of pieces of information relating to the first user was created; generating information that indicates the initial display form of the chronologic information, and that comprises an identification of a subset of the plurality of pieces of the information to be initially displayed to the user other than the first user, the subset comprising pieces of information created during the one or more first time periods; and providing at least a portion of the chronologic information to a device for display to the user other than the first user, the providing comprising employing the generated information that indicates the initial display form to identify the at least a portion that is provided.

10. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage device according to claim 9 , wherein the obtaining step comprises obtaining information for displaying a digest of the chronologic information to the user other than the first user, and the information for displaying the digest comprises a series of chronology operation information indicating a part in the chronologic information to be displayed, a display order, and how the part is displayed.

11. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage device according to claim 9 , wherein the chronology providing program allows the computer to execute the steps of: accepting the operation to the chronologic information provided by being displayed in a display unit; storing history information of the accepted operation to the chronologic information; and performing control to display the chronologic information based on the history information.

12. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage device according to claim 11 , wherein, if the history information exists, the generating step comprises assigning chronologic information having associated history information higher priority than chronologic information having no associated information.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the one or more second periods in the act (ii) comprises identifying one or more periods during which at least one of the plurality of pieces of information was created.